Collecting debt in Texas: licensing, bonds and statutes of limitations.

“Texas law provides that partial payment of a debt or written acknowledgement of a debt renews the statute of limitations. See TEX. CIV. PRAC. & REM. CODE ANN. § 16.065”

“An acknowledgment of the justness of a claim that appears to be barred by limitations is not admissible in evidence to defeat the law of limitations if made after the time that the claim is due unless the acknowledgment is in writing and is signed by the party to be charged.”

§ 16.067(a): 'A person may not bring an action to recover a claim against a person who has moved to this state if the claim is barred by the law of limitations of the state or country from which the person came.' Limited borrowing: applies only to defendants who moved to Texas, and § 16.067(c) gives the creditor at least 12 months after the debtor arrives. § 16.066(a) bars an action on a foreign judgment that is barred where rendered, and § 16.066(b) bars suit on a foreign judgment more than 10 years old against a 10-year Texas resident. Both only shorten, never lengthen, the Texas period.

“the debt buyer, or a debt collector acting on behalf of the debt buyer, shall provide the following notice in the initial written communication with the consumer relating to the debt collection: ... THE LAW LIMITS HOW LONG YOU CAN BE SUED ON A DEBT. BECAUSE OF THE AGE OF YOUR DEBT, WE WILL NOT SUE YOU FOR IT.”

Applies only to DEBT BUYERS (§ 392.307(a)(2): a person who purchases or otherwise acquires a consumer debt from a creditor or subsequent owner) and collectors acting for them, not to original creditors or to third-party agencies collecting for creditors. Three alternative notices depending on FCRA reporting status (§ 392.307(e)(1)-(3)); at least 12-point bold, capitalized or underlined type (§ 392.307(f)); required only in the initial written communication. § 392.307(c) also flatly prohibits a debt buyer from suing or initiating arbitration after the § 16.004 / § 3.118 period expires. § 392.402(d) exempts § 392.307 violations from criminal penalty; H.B. 996 applies prospectively to conduct on or after Sept. 1, 2019. Texas has no general time-barred-debt disclosure for non-debt-buyer collectors.

Depends on who holds the debt and on the form of the payment. (1) Consumer debt held by a DEBT BUYER: no. § 392.307(d): 'If an action to collect a consumer debt is barred under Subsection (c), the cause of action is not revived by a payment of the consumer debt, an oral or written reaffirmation of the consumer debt, or any other activity on the consumer debt.' (2) Debt held by the original creditor or any other non-debt-buyer: § 16.065 governs. Once the claim is due, only an acknowledgment 'in writing and ... signed by the party to be charged' is admissible to defeat limitations, so a bare or unsigned payment does not revive. DeRoeck (Tex. 2018) confirms the acknowledgment 'can come before or after suit on the original debt is barred by limitations' and creates a separate claim on the new promise while 'That suit [on the original debt] was still barred'. Davis v. Davis (Dallas 2020) held that signed checks whose memo lines referenced the debt, together with emails, 'were in writing, signed by Tom, and referenced the debt at issue' and 'met the requirements of a written acknowledgment', so a signed check identifying the debt can revive it. Stine v. Stewart requires the writing to unequivocally acknowledge the particular obligation and express willingness to honor it.